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Local history
50 years ago: 1973
Robert E. Eiche, 70, Altoona, first director of the Altoona Campus of Penn State University from 1939-69, died that day. He had 36 years of total service at Penn State and was named director emeritus upon retirement.
25 years ago: 1998
A grand opening was held for the new Altoona Railroaders Museum Master Mechanics Building, John Kazmaier president. Executive director Peter Barton said that interactive recordings of rail workers made the museum unique.
10 years ago: 2013
The Altoona Mirror and Mirror Moms sponsored the first Super Hero Day at the Blair County Convention Center, which was attended by over 2,500 adults and children. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Captain America were two of the most popular costumes.
-- Compiled by Tim Doyle
World history
Today is Wednesday, April 26, the 116th day of 2023. There are 249 days left in the year.
Today's highlight in history:
On April 26, 1986, an explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine caused radioactive fallout to begin spewing into the atmosphere. (Dozens of people were killed in the immediate aftermath of the disaster while the long-term death toll from radiation poisoning is believed to number in the thousands.)
On this date:
-- In 1607, English colonists went ashore at present-day Cape Henry, Virginia, on an expedition to establish the first permanent English settlement in the Western Hemisphere.
-- In 1865, John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, was surrounded by federal troops near Port Royal, Virginia, and killed.
-- In 1933, Nazi Germany's infamous secret police, the Gestapo, was created.
-- In 1994, voting began in South Africa's first all-race elections, resulting in victory for the African National Congress and the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as president.
-- In 2000, Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signed the nation's first bill allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions.
-- In 2009, the United States declared a public health emergency as more possible cases of swine flu surfaced from Canada to New Zealand; officials in Mexico City closed everything from concerts to sports matches to churches in an effort to stem the spread of the virus.
-- The Associated Press